Go back 30 years. That's the last time both the Bengals and the Browns truly knew what the hell they were doing.
Both teams had winning records in 1988, part of a four-year stretch in which either the Browns or Bengals played in the AFC championship game. It's true. All of it.
They knew what the hell they were doing because they knew who they were. That started with head coaches Marty Schottenheimer and Sam Wyche, old-school hard-asses who embodied the identity of those Rust Belt AFC outposts, especially when December rolled around.
Fans wanted to sit in the cold. They didn't fear Pittsburgh or Houston. The "Dawg Pound" and "The Jungle" weren't empty stadiums. Cincinnati and Cleveland didn't want to be like each other. They couldn't stand the sight of each other.
Tell 'em, Sam ...
Now we live in a time in which Cincinnati wants to be like Cleveland, and vice versa, despite a combined 5-23 record.
Pro Football Talk posed a scenario Sunday in which the Bengals trade for Browns coach Hue Jackson. It came after reports surfaced that Bengals coach Marvin Lewis would be leaving at the end of the season after a 15-year stint as head coach.
Let's get this straight. Jackson, who is 1-29 over two seasons with the Browns and could go 0-16 in 2017, could take over for Lewis, his former mentor, weeks after trying to trade for the Bengals' backup quarterback. If that happens, then Lewis would become a candidate for the Browns job.
At this point, to hijack Wyche's catch-phrase, you're denying living in Cincinnati or Cleveland. It's time for both franchises to take real steps toward putting the last 30 seasons away. That's what makes these next hires so critical.
Notice we said "next hires."
MOCK DRAFT 2018:
Bengals go defense, Browns go offense
Lewis must go. The Bengals need to move on, and Jackson is not the next answer. Dave Shula, Bruce Coslet and Dick LeBeau weren't the right answers after Wyche, either. The Bengals missed out on hiring former defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer and former Giants coach Tom Coughlin, but they need somebody of that mold — to put it bluntly, somebody who won't side-step an increasingly unhealthy sibling relationship with Pittsburgh.
Jackson should go, too, but is it a must? New Cleveland general manager John Dorsey can try to finesse bringing back Jackson for continuity purposes, but how does one sell bringing back a coach who is 1-29 in two seasons? How is that going to excite the fan base into believing things really are going to change? The Browns have already blown through Chris Palmer, Butch Davis, Romeo Crennel, Eric Mangini, Pat Shurmur, Rob Chudzinski, Mike Pettine and Jackson. If Jackson stays, then Cleveland better have a quarterback plan in place.
If both teams move on, however, then where would they look next?
They would at least pitch Urban Meyer, the most popular coach in Ohio. The Buckeyes coach has the perfect setup in Columbus. He beats Michigan. He wins Big Ten championships. So what's the pitch?
If Meyer were to go to either franchise and have success, he would be right up there with Paul Brown as the biggest coaching icon in the Buckeye State's history. Remember, Brown won a national championship at Ohio State, three NFL championships with the Browns and played a role in founding the Bengals.
Meyer, however, still seems farfetched as an option given his lack of NFL coaching experience. He has shut down every NFL rumor in the past. His biggest rival, Jim Harbaugh, will be mentioned, too. We just don't see Harbaugh leaving Ann Arbor for either Ohio franchise.
Say it out loud a few times: Not happening.
If not Meyer, then who outside the standard Jon Gruden daydreams? The question will turn up names such as assistant coaches Josh McDaniels and Mike Vrabel, young coordinators with Ohio birth ties. We'd like Vrabel more in Cleveland if the Texans didn't rank 31st in the NFL in scoring defense and first in penalty yards, but he fits.
Browns owner Jimmy Haslam can't tease the fan base with big names, like he did during the last two searches, without delivering one. They've already done that with Peyton Manning. If nobody is biting now, it might be OK to give Jackson one more run. That's a tough sell, but part of Dorsey's challenge is legitimizing this front office first. That's the biggest challenge, and a coach might have to come later unless the cycle turns up the right re-tread. What if Green Bay fired Mike McCarthy? It would have to be on that level.
Sporting News posed eight candidates for the Cincinnati job, and Jackson and defensive coordinator Paul Guenther are on that list. Cincinnati going that route would feel more like a continuation from the Lewis era.
Of the names on our list, Eagles offensive coordinator Frank Reich is the most interesting. He has worked well with Carson Wentz and now Nick Foles. Philadelphia beat Pittsburgh 34-3 last season. He's overdue for his first head coaching job, and if the Eagles make a run to the Super Bowl, that's not a bad play. It's a name with which Cincinnati should be familiar. He was on the field as a backup quarterback for Buffalo the last time the Bengals won the AFC championship on Jan. 8, 1990.
So at least Reich would know what the Bengals look like when they know what they are doing. It's been a long time for them, and for the Browns. But the common thread remains the head coaches. Old-school coaches. Fearless coaches. Can it still work? Look at Minnesota and Jacksonville. Case closed.
Cleveland and Cincinnati fans still adore Schottenheimer and Wyche because they long for those glory days. Trading coaches won't get either franchise any closer. Trying something different is the better route.
Maybe then you won't have to go back 30 years. For once, you can start to look toward a real future.
